About 60 percent of restaurants that had to close during the pandemic are now permanently closed, according to review site Yelp.
Across industries, Yelp reports that 132,580 businesses that were listed as “open” on March 1 are now marked “closed”, and roughly 55 percent of those closures are permanent. Those percentages translate to 72,842 businesses permanently closed as of July 10 that were open in March, and more than 15,700 of those are restaurants.
Las Vegas is suffering from the highest rate of closed businesses, with 861 that are now permanently closed. Las Vegas has seen a huge decrease in tourism, and according to Yelp, this accounts for the spike in closures.
The rate of permanent closures has increased since April as the coronavirus pandemic spreads and businesses of all kinds are forced to close or adjust how they interact with customers, sometimes resulting in fewer sales. Yelp reports that the number of total closures, though, has fluctuated as states reopen and close down again based on outbreaks.
However, some businesses are seeing far fewer permanent closures. These include professional services like lawyers, accountants, web design and tutors or educators. Health services like physicians, mental health services, and health coaches are also seeing fewer permanent closures during the pandemic.
“With nearly every state (and even county) taking a tailored approach to reopening local economies we expect these shifts in consumer interest and business closures to continue to move at an unpredictable pace,” thereport stated.
As businesses opened up in June, Yelp reports that people are searching for alcohol-related experiences, with an increase in searches for wineries (up 51 percent since May), cideries (up 39 percent) and breweries (up 24 percent). Searches for outdoors activities has also increased since May, like ziplining (up 44%) and ATV rentals (up 37%).
